Recent global health estimates suggest that inactivity is a leading risk factor for death, contributing to 6% of deaths worldwide.

Health officials recommend at least 150 minutes of aerobic exercise per week and 2 sessions of resistance training, targeting each major muscle group.

Adults need 2 days of muscle-strengthening activity weekly—yet most of us aren't doing that.

Moving your body every day is key to longevity

In an era of biohacking, where millionaires subject themselves to draconian routines and tests to de-age themselves, one study suggests a super simple key predictor of mortality: more than any other trait, how much subjects moved determined how long they'd live. Movement mattered even more than age in predicting overall life longevity. Researchers suggest this means we should all simply get outside a bit more. Read more about the study here.

One minute of exercise correlates to five extra minutes of life (on average).

Continual sitting harms your health in a variety of ways

Prolonged inactivity, like sitting for long periods, slows metabolism, weakens muscles and bones, and impairs insulin function. When these negative changes persist over time, the cumulative result is an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and many cancers.

The exercise sweet spot is shorter than you'd think—and longer workouts aren't generally better.

About 40% of cancer cases are linked to preventable risk factors

Maintaining a healthy weight, engaging in regular physical activity, and consuming a balanced diet can lower cancer risk. Research indicates that about 40% of US cancer cases are linked to preventable factors, including poor diet and inactivity. Understanding these mechanisms empowers individuals to adopt healthier lifestyles for cancer prevention.

Optimal human functioning requires movement

There is now ample evidence to back the centuries-old hypothesis that exercise is critical to human health. This review article explores the latest discoveries in exercise science, including how exercise is intrinsic to maintaining our organ systems throughout life.

Overwork contributes to thousands of worker deaths

Can work really kill you? The World Health Organization and the International Labor Organization have estimated that long work hours contribute to thousands of death from strokes and heart attacks each year. This BBC article argues that the culture of overwork and burnout is leading to a public health crisis in desperate need of solutions.

Explore global maps of cancer prevalence, with incidences that reflect various risk factors, including smoking rates, HPV infections, sunscreen use, and alcohol consumption.

Arthritis affects almost 60 million Americans, with about 1 in 5 US adults developing this type of joint pain as they age.

Stroke risk doubles each decade after age 55

While age is the greatest risk factor, genetics, diet, and overall health play a prominent role in determining individual stroke risk. Prevention focuses heavily on modifiable risk factors. High blood pressure is the single most important controllable risk factor, contributing to both types of stroke.

America's top causes of death are heart disease, cancer, accidents, and stroke

Heart disease killed more than 680,000 people in 2023 and cancer killed around 613,000 people that year. Both causes of death are far above the next leading cause of death—accidents, which numbered around 223,000. Provisional data for 2024 indicates the leading causes of death remained the same.

Astronauts exercise on the International Space Station

Astronauts maintain bone, muscle, and cardiovascular health with physical activity. It's crucial that they make time to exercise for approximately two hours per day. This resource offers a behind-the-scenes look at how high-intensity workouts help prevent muscle atrophy, bone density loss, and aerobic decline during monthslong space missions.

One in 10 adults worldwide has diabetes.

The eight habits that could add up to 24 years to your life

A study presented at the American Society for Nutrition's annual meeting revealed that adopting eight healthy lifestyle habits in middle age can significantly increase life expectancy. The habits include being physically active, avoiding opioid...

Read the Surgeon General's 2023 loneliness report claiming loneliness is an epidemic

This report details the specific health threats linked with loneliness, including that loneliness and social isolation can increase the risk of premature death by nearly 30%. Loneliness lowers our capability to mount an effective immune response to viruses and respiratory illness, can cause chronic inflammation on par with physical inactivity, and increases the risks for anxiety, depression, dementia, heart disease and stroke.

Official recommendations state that healthy adults should perform progressive resistance training that increases weight and repetitions over time.

Grip strength, how firmly and securely you can hold onto things, predicts death better than blood pressure

Exercise can change your genes without changing your DNA.

Doctors are prescribing social activities—and seeing good results

Physicians, especially in the UK, are asking patients what they enjoy and then prescribing a consistent regimen of doing that type of activity to improve fitness and overall health, including community exercise classes, volunteering, and spending time in nature. This approach may provide better incentives to stick with an activity.

Explore the gap in what Americans die from versus news coverage on death causes

Top killers like heart disease, stroke, and liver disease, though they represent a significant burden nationally, are not often extensively covered in the media.

Discover how strength training may help your brain and what happens inside your cells when you work out with this original '1440 Explores' podcast.

Obesity rates have more than doubled worldwide since 1990

In the US alone, the percentage of the population meeting the clinical standard of obesity rose from less than 20% to more than 40% over the past three decades. This rise has been matched by many countries across the globe, from industrialized to developing nations.

Perceived isolation ages you

Mounting evidence suggests that socialization is a vital component of maintaining good health. Research published in 2024 from Mayo Clinic researchers analyzed the social lives of more than 280,000 adults and concluded that individuals that weren't likely to participate in extracurricular social activities and get-togethers were more likely to have a biological age older than their actual age—meaning that you may be 60 but health indicators would suggest you're older.

Even brief physical activity can trigger the release of neurotransmitters that provide mental health boosts.

Explore US public health data

This resource tracks key US health metrics, including mortality causes, child survival rates, and life expectancy comparisons, to inform future health improvements, with regularly updated global estimates.

Exercise causes diet-independent changes in the gut microbiome.

Losing the kids to video games

An estimated 60 million people suffer from internet gaming disorder worldwide, a category created by the World Health Organization in 2018 to help communities support individuals plagued by pathological play. As the world's most-played game of all...

Microgravity environments reduce muscle mass and bone density

Muscles that assist with balance and resistance to gravity are not subjected to their usual workload on the International Space Station. See the type of exercises that astronauts must complete for roughly two hours daily, and learn why these movements are necessary to preserve astronauts' muscles, bones, and cardiovascular health.

How meal timing factors into health outcomes

The world is trending toward weight gain, a development that comes with a corresponding rise in risk for health conditions, including diabetes and heart disease. This article explores how meal timing has become a factor in nutrition and weight maintenance.

Loneliness is more dangerous to your health than smoking.

Heat-related deaths may have climbed by more than 50% over 20 years

Between 2000 and 2009 one study suggests annual heat deaths averaged around 2,670, but between 2010 and 2020 that figure was likely more than 4,000. Researchers studied 54 million death records from the contiguous US and created mathematical models to arrive at these figures, noting that a combination of aging populations and climate change drove that increase.

It is recommended that humans consume 2.0 to 3.7 liters (about 4.2 to 7.8 pint glasses) of water daily to replace water lost through breathing, sweating, urination, and bowel movements.

Adults may lose roughly 3% of their muscle mass each decade after 30.

Small ways to improve your health today: an animated guide

What are some ways that you could start making a positive impact on your health today? This animated gallery overviews several health topics, including sleep and hydration, and offers ways to improve that aspect of your life. Clicking on the...

Heatstroke deaths may be massively undercounted—perhaps by a factor of 10

One often-cited average estimate of annual American heat deaths—roughly 1,200 per year—is based on death certificate data, but it may be a significant undercount because heat kills through cardiovascular, kidney, and respiratory causes that are more likely to be cited on those documents. (Separate analysis that looked at data from 1999 to 2023 found that the highest number, in 2023, was 2325.)

67 US high school athletes died from exertional heatstroke between 1982 and 2022

Many of those deaths were from football specifically, where student athletes play in hot conditions while wearing heavy protective gear. Few states mandate heat guidelines for school athletes, and this article says that's of increasing concern with more high heat index days.

Explore this interactive tool from the National Cancer Institute to calculate your risk of dying from various causes, including cancer.

Sitting 10+ hours per day increases dementia risk

People who sit for at least 10 hours per day are more likely to develop dementia, according to a study published in 2023. This article details the study on the murky relationship between brain health and prolonged sitting. This study involved...

Mental health is much more than the absence of mental illness, according to its official definition from the World Health Organization.

Visualizing obesity rates across the US

Nearly 70% of adults in the US are either overweight or obese, rates that have tripled over the last 60 years. Severe cases have risen tenfold during this period. Factors like location, income level, and demographics contribute to various obesity levels across the US. Visualize the statistics with this article and chart series.

Exercise improves brain blood flow, stimulates neural growth, and more.

Health span: The number of years one is active and disease-free

As scientific advances continue to extend the average human lifespan, many are now turning their attention toward extending "health span." The ultimate goal would be to extend one's health span to match one's lifespan, which would necessitate a shift in focus toward the pursuit of healthy aging. (Some users may experience a paywall.)

Visualizing cause of death over time in America

As people age, their life expectancy decreases, but the timing and speed of this decline have evolved over the years. Check out this chart which shows the shift in various causes of death of Americans over the last few decades. Data from the...

Yoga can be beneficial for aging practitioners

Studies suggest that yoga can help alleviate several diseases associated with aging by lowering blood pressure, reducing blood fat levels, and combating obesity. It has also been shown to increase telomerase activity, which helps slow cell aging.

Each part of the human body experiences aging differently

With global average life expectancy cresting at 73 years, understanding how the body ages is imperative to effective medical treatment and maintaining a desired quality of life. This 13-minute video dives into how the body and its organs age "from head to toe."

Vector-borne diseases kill more than 700,000 people globally each year—and are growing

The diseases with the greatest potential to spread widely aren't the ones that quickly kill human hosts. Instead, the best hosts or reservoirs for vector-borne diseases would be chronically ill over the long term, increasing the likelihood that the pathogen could be transmitted to others.

Inflammaging is chronic low-level inflammation as we age, and it may be a key disease driver

The term refers to the idea that largely invisible but consistent low-level inflammation as humans age fuels chronic diseases and cellular aging. Inflammaging, this article says, is due to lifestyle factors like poor sleep, low levels of activity, and poor diet, acting in concert to cause cellular damage and trigger inflammation.

Roughly 10% of the world's population is older than 65 (2023 data)

With recent advances in medicine, sanitation, and nutrition, expected lifespans have rapidly risen around the globe—resulting in a rapidly aging global population. The worldwide distribution has seen a nearly 600% jump in the population of people aged 65 and older.